Family, Friends Remember Teenager At Candlelight Vigil

January 11, 2004|By JUDITH HAYNES Daily Press

HAMPTON — Fourteen-year-old Joshua Sechrist will be buried in his hockey uniform, his mother said Saturday.

The Hampton teen was killed Friday night in a traffic accident at East Mercury Boulevard and Curle Road. A 54-year-old Virginia Beach driver, who struck the van Joshua was in, was under investigation Saturday "for offenses related to driving under the influence of alcohol," said Hampton Police spokesman Jimmie Wideman.

The man -- whom Wideman did not identify -- was driving a silver Dodge van that hit a Pontiac van carrying Joshua, his two younger brothers, his maternal grandmother and a 15-year-old girl.

His grandmother was in critical condition Saturday at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, family friends said. The girl, Kecoughtan High School freshman Miranda Walker, has multiple broken bones and probably will be hospitalized for four to six weeks, said her stepfather, Don Johnson.

About 150 people -- many of them, like Joshua's family, involved in roller hockey at Plaza Roller Rink -- participated in a candlelight vigil Saturday night outside St. Mark's United Methodist Church, at the intersection where the accident occurred.

April and Patrick Allen said Joshua, a good student and well-mannered boy, was a hockey friend of their 11-year-old son, Tyler.

Joshua was in a college-preparatory program at Syms Middle School, and it was the Sechrists' encouragement that drew Tyler into the program, the Allens said.

Joshua had been skating at the rink for five or six years, rink co-owner Barbara Nolte said.

"It is very awful," she said. "Our whole rink is not doing very well."

Joshua was a Plaza Panther. "Hockey was his dream," said his mother, Carla Sechrist.

David Hurlburt of Hampton was Joshua's coach for several years. "He was a great kid. He loved to skate," Hurlburt said. "He could play a very physical game and at the end be your best friend."

Joshua's even temper distinguished him from other players, Hurlburt said. He didn't get angry at things that happened on the floor. He was a good winner and a good loser. Whether his team won or lost, Joshua would shake hands with his opponents and say, "Good game."

"He was one of those kids who just kind of sticks out," Hurlburt said.

"It's almost like losing one of your own," he said. "He was just starting his life."

Judith Haynes can be reached at (757) 247-4627 or jhaynes@dailypress.com